


Powerless Hakurei Tales 10: Mountain of Faith

by Carmichael_Micaalus



Series: Powerless Hakurei Tales [7]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:14:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15827982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmichael_Micaalus/pseuds/Carmichael_Micaalus
Summary: It's Autumn in Gensokyo, and there's a divine rumbling from above!  At long last, gods come to the Hakurei Shrine, but what's this?  They want the shrine to be shut down?!  What does this mean for the residents of the Hakurei Shrine?!





	Powerless Hakurei Tales 10: Mountain of Faith

Mountain of Faith 

 

The sound of broom bristles scraping against stone filled the air as Reimu swept the grounds of the shrine in the early morning.  Crimson and gold leaves continued to fall as the shrine maiden hummed softly to the doll on her shoulder, enjoying the task which had no end in sight.

Once and awhile, the two could hear noises from the shrine as breakfast was assembled.  Muffled comments from their maid and the permanently visiting oni could be heard within the noise, usually ending with a harsh illegible command from one of the magicians.

“We should bake some potatoes out here tonight!”  Reimu smiled, sweeping her way back to the shrine.

“Certainly are enough leaves.”  Hourai nodded, stifling a yawn before suddenly straightening.  “Reimu,” She called as her charge began to walk up the wooden steps, “visitor; behind you.”

Turning around, the shrine maiden could see a girl with green hair and detached sleeves approaching.  Reimu smiled and waved as Hourai felt her eye twitch.

“Hello!  Welcome to the Hakurei Shrine, Miss!”

“Be- be careful Reimu.”  The doll whispered. “She is _brimming_ with power.”

The girl stopped in front of her, taking her in with a smile before speaking.

“Are you the shrine maiden here?”

“Yes!  My name is Reimu Hakurei!”

“I’m Sanae Kochiya, wind charmer and living god of the Moriya Shrine.  I’m here-”

The shrine maiden gasped, her eyes sparkling.  “You’re a god?!”

Sanae blinked.  “Yes.”

Reimu bowed once more.  “W-well met, divinity! Wow!  I’m afraid our shrine doesn’t-”

“I’m here on behalf of Divinity Yasaka,” The living god cut her off, continuing, “God of Wind and Rain.  She has instructed me-”

The shrine maiden gasped again.  “Your shrine has _multiple gods?!_  That’s so neat!”

“She has instructed me to secure the faith of those residing in Gensokyo, and in order to do that, I need to eliminate the competition.”

Reimu’s smile stated to fade as a wave of icy dread splashed over her.

“By the order of Divinity Yasaka, you are to shut down and vacate this shrine immediately, or be destroyed.”

The broom slipped from her fingers.

“WaaaaaaAAAHHH…!”  The shrine maiden began to cry.

 

* * *

 

Sanae took a step back as the child began to wail.  It had been somewhat difficult to gather information on the shrine; the entire area seemed to be protected from scrying, and no one seemed to know anything about the residing god.  While she had been expecting problems, an upset kid was not on the list.

The wind charmer scratched her chin as she gave the area a cursory glance, unsure if the sobbing was going to attract attention.  Looking back at the girl, she reached out to console the girl, but paused as the doll sitting on Reimu’s shoulder glared at her. Sanae tried to remember if she had seen the doll moving before; with all she had witnessed since arriving in Gensokyo, she realized a living doll was not that far fetched of an idea.

Noise could be heard from within the shrine, getting closer.  The door flew open, nearly coming off the tracking as a blonde girl with gold eyes glared at her.  Before Sanae could say a word, the blonde held out a hexagonal box, inches from the wind charmer’s face.

“ **AKH MORN!!!** ”

The last thing Sanae saw was a flash of light.

 

* * *

 

“Hm…” The healing scroll reduced to ashes, Mima looked over the unconscious wind charmer as Ruukoto held the still weeping shrine maiden.  Marisa paced back and forth in front of the shrine, screaming curses and yelling at nobody in particular. “It’s a miracle she’s still alive; I don’t think the spell card rules actually kicked in with that attack, dear.”

“She’s lucky I didn’t fucking continue!”  The magician’s body shook as she turned on her heel and continued to pace.  “The fucking _nerve_ of her, demanding we leave… _of fucking course_ the first god we meet is-”

Mima simply smiled as Marisa’s ranting fell to unintelligible growls and repeated curses once more.  The shrine door opened; Suika tossed the blonde magician her travel bag. Catching the satchel, Marisa held out her other hand, summoning her broom.

“Are you sure you want to do this now?”  Mima asked quietly. “You know what she’s going to be like once she-”

Pressing a few trigrams on her mini-hakkero, the rope she threw at the wind charmer tied itself to the interloper before tying itself to the broom.

“I need to return _this_ bitch to sender, and I think it’s safe to say Reimu’s still too upset to tag along.”  She let out an angry sigh and paused, taking a step closer. “Besides, if these are gods, there’s a good chance they’re trying to see how desperate we are and how much control they can get.  Reimu’s likely to cave right away… we _can’t_ allow that.”

Mima nodded understandingly.  “Alright, then. Here…” Reaching into her robes, the lich handed her apprentice two amulets.  “Finally finished the new death ward, and something for curses. Gods really like to give those out, so it should come in handy.”

Marisa sighed and nodded, taking them.  “Thank you.”

Mima placed her hands on Marisa’s shoulders.  “And don’t forget: Always leave yourself an escape plan.  Don’t worry if you need to take a second stab at it, if they think you’re weaker for knowing your own strength, then use that against them.”

“Arright… thanks, Ma.”

As the magician mounted her broom, Hourai landed on her shoulder.

“You need someone to watch your back without the kid,”  She answered before the question was asked, her jaw set.  “And I want _blood._ ”

“Fair enough, let’s go.”  Giving a single wave to her mother, Marisa took off, heading towards Youkai mountain.

 

* * *

 

The path heading up Youkai Mountain was one rarely used by Marisa; up above was territory belonging to the kappa and tengu, both who kept to themselves for the most part.  Each had a population large enough to govern themselves, usually only interacting with other groups on economical levels more than anything else.

Aside from the agitated fairies who always popped up during incidents, the trip had been quiet.  Both Hourai and Marisa were silent people by nature, usually becoming talkative because of another’s interactions.

Flying through the clouds of countless leaves, Hourai pointed ahead.  Marisa nodded as she saw the figure, seemingly controlling the leaves; she charged ahead.

“Turn back, human!”  The woman shouted, pulling out a spell card.  “It’s dangerous up ahead- ack!” The blonde woman was knocked aside by Marisa’s blast; the magician continued on.

“Wonder who that was…” Hourai murmured, looking back to see if she followed.

“Dunno; someone who liked leaves, judging by the cut of her dress.  At any rate, let’s-”

“Three o’clock!”  Hourai pointed to the side; a hail of bullets reflected off of Marisa’s shield.

“Hey, jerkass!” Another blonde woman in a mob cap shouted, closing in on the two.  “I’ve got a bone to pick with you!”

 

* * *

 

“Hello~”  Alice called as she opened the door.  Mima looked up and let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh Alice, thank Fuck you’re here.  Please-” She held out a hand to the distraught shrine maiden.  “-I am _really_ bad at this when she’s this down.”

“Come here, sweetie…”  The puppeteer held Reimu close as she sat at the table.  “What happened?”

Mima let out a growl as she glanced in the direction of the mountain.  “Some cabbage-headed bitch came down, claimed she was a god from up on top of the mountain, and demanded that we leave the shrine, or be destroyed.”

“I- I see…”  The puppeteer’s eyes drifted to Mima’s hair.  “Just… out of curiosity, but what colour would you say your own hair is?”

“ _My_ hair is a beautiful shade of emerald, thank you very much.”

“Right, right.”

“At any rate, that made Reimu cry, Marisa nearly killed her, and decided to return her to her shrine up on the mountain.”

“I didn’t know there was a shrine up there that’d care about way down here.”

“Neither did I.”  Mima sighed as she looked over old documents from the shrine.  “For the most part, we’ve ignored the mountain ‘cause the people there take care of their own.  The one time I could use the damned reporter to find out what’s happening…”

“According to Hourai…” Shanghai announced, tapping into her familial connection before suddenly wincing.  “...they’re committing battery against a couple of blondes that got in their way.”

They could hear a forlorn noise emerge from the shrine maiden.  Mima coughed.

“...there are a lot of blondes in Gensokyo.”  Alice commented, dodging the obvious problem of the report.

“Probably from the ambient mana or something.”  Mima nodded, loading her pipe.

 

* * *

 

“Uh-huh…” Hourai sighed, a hand to her ear as she received instructions from her sister.  Marisa continued to stare down their defeated opponents. “Uh-huh… yeah, noted.”

Keeping her eyes on the two, the magician tilted her head towards the doll as she heard sputtering and an angry sigh from Hourai.

“Alright, _alright_ , I’ll tell her.  Cool your jets. Mari-” Lowering her hand, Hourai suddenly winced again.  “ _I’m telling her, calm your tits.  Fuck._ ”  The doll groaned, pinching her temples.  “My Mother and Dearest of Sisters are both requesting that you refrain from kicking the asses of people not tied to the asshole, here.”

“...they might be.”  Marisa muttered.

“Yeah, but we probably should have checked _beforehand_ is all.”

“Fair enough.  So…” She continued to watch as the two women stood up, dusting themselves off.  “Who are you, and why did you try to stop me?”

“I am Minoriko Aki, God of Harvest.”  The woman with the mob cap growled. “And I tried to stop you because you beat up my sister, you jerk!”

Marisa could feel the world slam to a halt.

“I- I- I’m… sorry…?”  The magician tilted her head, blinking.  “You’re a… _what?_ ”

“A god.”  Minoriko repeated.

“...okay.  Okay, timeout, timeout…” Marisa sighed, making a T with her hands.  “You’re… a god.”

“That’s right.”

“And… that’s your sister, who I am assuming here… is also a god.”

“That’s right!”  She pulled her sister closer.  “This is Shizuha Aki, God of Autumn Leaves.  Together we control the Autumn.”

The sound of leaves blowing in the wind filled the air as Marisa stared at the two.  Her eye twitched.

“And… why did you try to stop me, Miss- _Divinity…_ Shizuha?”

“W-well,” Shizuha hugged her arms together, looking away with a frown.  “It looked like you were heading towards Youkai Mountain, and it’s dangerous there.”  She looked at her once more. “I was _trying_ to keep you from getting hurt… is everything alright?”

The magician covered her face with a hand.

“Hourai…” She muttered, sounding very tired.  “Tell- tell your sister we found out where all the gods are.  Turns out they were in the fucking _back yard._ ”

“Wait a sec, I know you.”  Minoriko squinted at her. “You’re that one kid that’s always skulking around Reimu.”

“First off…” The magician gave her a mirthless smile, holding up a finger.  “Reimu is my sister. I do not _skulk_ around her, I make sure weirdos stay the _fuck away from her_.  Second…”  She held up a second finger… which slowly curled back into a fist as she started to shake with rage.

“This… might not be the time for-” Hourai started, ignoring the questions from her sister.

“ _Second will have to wait as this is not the time, thank you Hourai._ ”

“It’s what I’m here for.”  The doll casually covered her mouth, hiding her smile.

“Why are you heading to Youkai Mountain?”  Shizuha asked, trying to get their conversation back on track.  The magician turned her broom, showing the two the wind charmer tied to the broom.

“This bitch threatened to destroy our home, which made _my_ sister cry, so I’m looking for their god to tell them _that is unacceptable behavior._ ”  She straightened out her broom and leaned closer.  “That wouldn’t happen to be _you two… would it?_ ”

“N-no.”  Minoriko pulled her sister back, becoming concerned about the unhinged mage in their midst.

“Good.”

“We don’t- we don’t really have a shrine, or much in the way of worshipers,”  Shizuha mumbled. “It’s why we’re so weak.”

The harvest god held a hand over the unconscious wind charmer.  “...it seems like the ones she worships are high on the mountain.”  She looked up towards the summit. “Quite powerful ones, at that.”

“Than that’s where we need to go.  Take care, Autumn G-”

“Hold up-” Hourai poked her companion on the cheek.  “I know you don’t want to, but-”

She grit her teeth.  “I’m… not in the right mind frame for that-”

The two gods exchanged glances.

“Too bad!  I got Shanghai in my ear, so this is the price we pay for leaving without the kid!  Look-” She leaned back, closer to the magician’s ear. “Just… repeat after me.”

The gods drifted back a bit as Marisa clenched her fist again before releasing it with a sigh.  As the doll whispered in her ear, the magician’s eyes moved towards the two.

“I am far too angry to give you a proper apology… so please come to the Hakurei Shrine at the base of the mountain later.”  Her eyes moved back towards the doll as Hourai scratched her chin. An idea forming, she leaned towards her again. “...Everyone tends to gather there after an incident… and I think it’s safe to say Reimu would like to talk to you as well.”

“Er, okay.”  Shizuha nodded, still looking unsure.  Marisa sighed.

“Look, I don’t do the whole ‘diplomatic social’ thing, okay?  That- that’s Reimu job… but she can’t do it right now, so I-” She looked at Shizuha before turning to Minoriko.  “Look, you get it, right?”

The harvest god slowly nodded.  “I do. Thank you… Magister.”

“Just ‘Marisa’ is fine.  Take care.”

“Wait-”  Minoriko held out her hand; Marisa paused.  “I realize just going up is the easiest way to get to the summit, but if you do that, the tengu and kappa will spot you from a mile away, and likely intervene.”

“Alright…”

She pointed down the path.  “Head down this way, towards the Genbu Ravine.  That _is_ the heart of kappa territory, but they’re a lot less likely to spot you until you’re right on top of them, so they’re likely to be on the defensive instead of the offensive.  If they realize you’re just passing through, they may just let you do so.”

The magician considered the tactic and nodded.  “Makes sense; thanks.”

“Just… be careful of the tengu.  They’re really fast, but… I think most of them may be occupied with the gods you’re after.  I’ve heard chatter about new gods causing problems. The thing is-”

“If they were new as in ‘young’, they’d likely either be the tengu’s own, or weak.”  Marisa finished. The two nodded.

“Right.”  Shizuha continued.  “So they’re likely from the outside, and they’re most likely _old_.  Be careful.”

“‘Careful’ died in the snow, long ago.”  She began to move again. “But I appreciate the sentiment.  See you later, divinities.”

 

* * *

 

The Great Youkai Forest was one of the many forests in Gensokyo, and an area which few people went to without great need.  It was rare for either Marisa or Reimu to pass through as none of their friends lived there, nor were any human settlements nearby.

The forest was a dark and foreboding place; little in the way of light or sound made it through the canopy, causing any noise within to echo from all directions.  The local fairies and youkai liked to take advantage of the sound oddity when scaring anyone who came near, but Hourai and Marisa soon found out most of them were not used to actual fights against skilled opponents.

“Coming back around at 2 o’clock,” Hourai motioned to the spinning woman dressed in black and red, “persistent one; might be the leader around here or somethin’.”

“Stop…!” Marisa shouted as she returned the danmaku blasts with the woman.  “Stop- stop- STOP. STOP.”

Twirling away, the woman slowly came to a halt, facing them.

“Turn back, child!  This path leads you to danger-”

“No, _I_ bring the danger.”  She glared at the woman who blinked in surprise.  “Look- I’m glad there’s more and more nice youkai watching out for people, but-”

“I am no youkai, I am a Pestilence God.  My name is Hina Kagiyama, and being this close to me is… are… you okay?”

Marisa massaged her temples, sighing.  “Yeah, no I’m- I’m good. Doin’ great.”  Steadying herself once more the magician looked at Hina.  “Peachy keen.”

“A-alright.  As-”

“This yours?”  Once more, Marisa turned her broom.  “I don’t _think_ she is, but… better safe than sorry.”

“No.  I do not receive my power through prayer or devotees.”

“Cool.  We’re done here.  Unless…” Her expression darkened.  “You’re looking to have your ass beat.”

“I am not looking to cause you harm; I simply keep humans away from here so they aren’t maimed or killed.  This area and the mountain are very dangerous.”

Maris drifted closer.  “This one threatened my sister.”

“I’m sorry to hear-”

“She acted on the order of her gods.”

“That- that’s unfortunate, but-”

“ _I’m not about to let that shit fly._ ”

“Un-understandable, but please don’t come so-”

The magician grabbed the god by her dress.  “ **I will make them fear the Hells they preach about!** ”

“Please let go of me, I’m awash in misfortune!”

Releasing the god, Marisa took a calming breath.

“...I am sorry, that was rude of me.”  She stated quietly. She pointed behind her.  “I live at the Hakurei Shrine. If you’d like, once I’m done, you can come over, and I can give you a better apology that’s not coming through clenched teeth… stop _petting_ me, Hourai.”

“Ya did good, Marisa.  Didn’t even have to remind ya!”

“Wait, the Hakurei Shrine?”  Hina asked, drifting back to a safer distance.  “You’re… friends with Reimu, then?”

“Sister, actua-”  She blinked, moving closer.  “Wait, how do you-”

“I’m not trying to be rude, but please don’t come closer!”  The pestilence god pleaded, backing away further. “I can contain most of the misfortune, but it _does_ leak!”

“Arright, arright, arright.”  She pulled back, pinching the bridge of her nose as she attempted to take another calming breath.  “How do you know my sister? She _shouldn’t_ be coming over here.”

“W-well, it was only once or twice, and she was never alone.  She was with a stern-looking rabbit, and another god. They were-”

Marisa began to laugh, holding up a hand.  “I- I’m sorry? Could… could you describe this ‘other god’ to me?”

“I’m not blamin’ ya in the _slightest_ -” Hourai grinned, “but we should probably stop interrupting her.”

“Um… she had long, silver hair and wore a red-blue dress with constellations and trigram designs upon it.”  Unsure how to read Marisa’s face, Hina continued to drift further away. “They um- they said they were heading to a peony field on the mountain.  They were well defended, so… are… are you… okay?”

Though Marisa’s smile seemed pleasant, the large throbbing vein on her forehead gave her mood away.

“...I think it would be best if I leave now.”  Marisa nodded calmly. “I’ll see you later Hina, hopefully when I have a little less rage in me.”

“T-take care.”  She gave a small wave as the magician and doll flew by.  “Please be safe!”

They flew along the hint of a path, the forest beginning to show signs of clearing.  The magician began to shake violently.

“Aural senses dampened,” Hourai announced, patting Marisa on the cheek.  “Go on, let it-”

“FFFFFF **FFF** **UUU** ** _UUU-!!!_** ”

 

* * *

 

“Okay, Marisa?”  Hourai grinned. “Marisa?  When we get back- listen. When we get back-”

A third of my life!”  The magician continued to scream.  “A third of my! Fucking! Life! A third of my life spent _looking for gods!_ ”

“Listen!”  The doll laughed.  Travelling only with Marisa was a rare experience for her, and seeing so much of herself in the magician could only make her laugh in understanding.  “When we drop her off, and- and kick their asses or whatever, I’m going to contact Shanghai, and have her go bring some of my stash for you, okay? When’s the last time you had alcohol from Makai?”

“And we’ve found what, _three_ _more_ now?” She screamed.  “In a fucking _hour?!_ ”

Because the path from the Great Youkai Forest was so little used by humans, the defenses of the Genbu Ravine were rather light.  The unnatural darkness of the forest made it a difficult spot to effectively defend as well, since any threat approaching could not be seen until already in the ravine.  The fact that Marisa’s snapping sounded a lot like a kappa inventor taken by a fey mood made the residents run into hiding, as opposed to taking up arms against an invader.

“It’s powerful- watch the net, there ya go- it’s powerful stuff Marisa!”

“And Reimu already fucking _knows_ them?!”  Though Marisa was pouring her heart and soul into her rant, looking for enemies and listening to Hourai’s instructions were second nature to her.  “And then _Eirin as well?!_ ”

“I wonder if Mima knows.”  Hourai thought aloud.

“Of course she knows!”  The magician shot back, blasting another guard blindsided by an actual attacker.  “I want to know why she didn’t tell me… unless…” She dodged under the attack the doll motioned to.  “Fuck, what if she doesn’t know?”

She shrugged, making a non-committal noise.  Marisa growled.

“Thanks Hourai!  Now I don’t know which one is _worse!_ ”

“That’s what I’m here- woah!”  The doll’s arm shot out ahead, her eyes glowing.  “Invisible enemy, 12 o’clock! Spray the area!”

Pulling the broom high, Marisa threw a string of alchemical bombs, peppering the area in explosions.  They could hear a coughing as a flicker of colours revealed a girl with a massive backpack in a blue coat.  She reached into one of the dozens of pouches as she cringed away from the magician. Her eyes flicked down for a moment before staring at her opponent once more.

“P-p-please-” She began to stutter.

“Hey, how much do you wanna bet she’s a god as well?”  Marisa asked, throwing out her hand. The girl flinched.

“N-n-no!  I’m- I’m a kappa!  N-N-Nitori!” Her eyes flicked to her device for a moment once more.

“I think-” Hourai whispered.  Marisa put her hands up and sighed.

“...I didn’t mean to snap at you, Miss Nitori.”  She spoke in a painfully calm voice. Her hands lowered back onto the broom as Nitori’s shaking subsided.  “I am very angry right now, but that’s not your fault.”

She pointed up the pathway.  “I have some business up at the summit, I am just trying to pass through.  I do not want to hurt anyone on the way there, but I _will_ do what I need to to get there, okay?”

“Okay.”  The kappa nodded.

“If you can ask them to stand down… I will not attack anyone else, and…” she looked to the side, her face going red.  “I’ll _try_ to be quiet as well.”

Hourai quietly covered her mouth once more.

“O-okay.”  Nitori nodded once more.  “We can do that.”

Marisa pointed back the way she came.  “Head to the base of the mountain; there’s a shrine there.  Wait for me there, and I’ll tell you what all this is about, so you can tell the others, alright?  I’d tell you now, but again: Really. Fucking. Angry.” Looking at the kappa once more, the magician tapped her own chest.  “Just tell anyone there that I sent ya, and they’ll be nice to you.”

“Probably should tell her your name, then.”  Hourai murmured.

Marisa clenched her eyes shut.

She let out a long sigh.

“Right.  Name.” Her sarcastic streak began to return to her voice.  “Probably should tell you that as well. My name is Marisa. My sister is the shrine maiden there, her name is Reimu.”

Nitori gave her a shy smile, still holding her device.  “Thank you, Magister Marisa. I’ll head there now.” She drifted a bit before turning back to her.  “I- I don’t know what you need to do up there, but I hope you’re successful! Please be careful!”

“Thanks.”  Marisa gave her a tired smile as she began to move once more.  “See you later, Machinist Nitori.”

 

* * *

 

“Doin’ better?”  Hourai asked as they flew up the waterfall, leaving kappa territory and entering the tengu’s domain.  A grin spread across Marisa’s face.

“You know, I think I’m at that stage of anger where… I’m fine right now?  But I know as soon as I see my source of anger? I’m just- I’m going to fucking snap again.”  She chuckled a bit. “Like… I don’t _feel_ like it right this second… but I’ve been like this before where I just know I will.”

The doll motioned to an incoming streak.  “No, I- I know _exactly_ what you mean by that.”

The magician’s protective field buckled and fell under the force of the tengu’s sword, only to be stopped by Hourai’s auxiliary shield.

“Hmph!”  Hiding behind her own physical shield, the white wolf tengu leapt back, readying herself for another attack.  “Turn back, intruder.” She shouted, slamming her sword in the sheath. “We do _not_ need anyone else up here right now.”

“Sorry, already spent all of my ‘fucks to give’ today.”  Marisa could see her opponent ready their spell card. “I’m passing through to the summit… either ‘by you’ or ‘though you’.  Your choice.”

“The white wolves don’t have the speed of the crow,” Hourai murmured as the bullets began to fly, “but they hit a _lot_ harder.  Tengu guards are no joke.”

“Gotcha.”  Marisa nodded as she dodged through the attacks, ignoring the heat from close calls.  The doll scanned the battlefield.

“They typically travel in packs…”  She squinted at the shadows higher up.  “There! Avoid the shadow-side of the mountain; I’m not sure if she’s keeping them at bay, or if they’re waiting to ambush, but…”

“Thanks!”  Spotting a thin gap in the pattern, Marisa dodged away from where she was being herded and blasted her opponent.  The white wolf tengu huddled behind her shield before pulling back.

“Need to inform Lord Tenma of this…!”  She muttered to herself, signaling to her team before taking off.  The others disappeared into the shadows.

Marisa held her fist up to the doll.  Hourai hit it with her own.

“Let’s roll,”  Marisa pushed forward, building speed, “I have a feeling she’ll be back before long.”

 

* * *

 

“So…” Mima murmured.  “How does this work… exactly?”

Alice wrote in her opened grimoire, the pages pulsating with colour.  The lich could feel the delicate ribbons of Makai’s brand of magic trailing from the book, attaching to various planar boundaries and ley lines.

Sitting in the puppeteer’s lap, Reimu watched her friend work.  While their efforts to calm the girl down enough to stop crying paid off, she was still in a poor mood.  Despite everyone’s assurances, she worried about what Sanae had told her. Even if her family was not evicted, Reimu did not want to be forced to compete with gods.

“You’re familiar with the term ‘crown prince’ and the like, yes?”  Alice asked, correcting some of the self-filling lines. “The Grimoire is the proof of my status as Heir to the Throne, except it’s more than just an expensive hat.  One of the things it’s capable of doing is tapping into Makai. With that…”

A pulse of energy lifted the book off the table.  Pages quickly turned as a spell circle formed above, changing into a portal.

“Connection to Makai successful.”  The book announced.

“I can open a line for communication and transportation.”  She finished.

“I recall you mentioning using it can interfere with your identity protection.”

“Only if I don’t make the proper arrangements like this first, which as you just saw, takes time.”  Shinki, god of Makai, and Yumeko, administrator of Makai, appeared in the portal. “Right now I’m not using my grimoire as the Heir to the Throne, but rather as someone who was given permission by the Heir.”

“Sweetie!  Hello!” Shinki’s cheery voice came through the connection.  “Oh, Reimu! What’s wrong dear?”

“Hello Shinki, Lady Yumeko.”  Reimu nodded. Her work in the Grimoire complete, Alice wrapped her arms around the girl once more.

“Good morning, Mother.  We’ve had a little problem with one of the local gods; they’re trying to evict Reimu and her family from the shrine.”

“Oh my, I’m so sorry, dear!  Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Marisa and Hourai took off a bit ago to take care of it; Reimu was out of commission at the time, but Shanghai’s keepin’ ‘em on the straight and narrow, as it were.”  Alice explained; her mother nodded.

“Oh, well with Marisa on the case, you should be fine then!”  She beamed. “Don’t you think so, dear?”

The shrine maiden nodded.  “Y-yeah, but… I’m still worried-”

“Have faith in your sister, dear.”  The god of Makai stated softly. “While gods may use it the most, Faith still helps mortals.  Your genuine feelings, thoughts, and prayers _will_ help her.  I promise you.”

“I- I’ll try.”  She fidgeted. “It’s- it’s scary though, Shinki.”

“I can only imagine how scared you must be, dear.” She nodded.  “It’s okay to be scared, but be sure to remember that you’re not alone.  You have a lot of friends and family, and they want to help you. It’s okay to rely on others for help on things like this.”

The shrine maiden smiled.  “Thank you, Shinki.”

“Of course, sweetie!  Was there anything else you needed?”

“Yeah,” Alice grinned.  “It ah… this incident has taken a bit of a… mental toll on Marisa, shall we say.  I was hoping you could send me some of my stash from Makai; I think she’ll need it.  A couple of bottles and a couple of ounces should be more than enough for stress relief and celebration.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem!”  Her mother glanced at the administrator; Yumeko gave a nod before disappearing from the call.  “Sounds like it’ll be quite a party, maybe we should come as well~”

“You’re always welcome to visit, Shinki!”  Reimu smiled.

“Oh, thank you, dear!  And don’t forget you’re always welcome here as well.”

“Thank you.”

As Yumeko returned to the projection, there was a flash from the Grimoire as two bottles and a bag appeared on the table.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“I think that should do it; thanks Mother.”  Taking her quill once more, Alice began to write.  “I’ll be leaving the connection open for now; I’d like to see if we can get a projection of what’s happening from Hourai.  Feel free to watch if you’re not too busy.”

The puppeteer’s small smile split into a wide grin as her eldest sister rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Not trying to make your life harder, Yumeko, but-”

“No, no…” The administrator covered her face with a hand and sighed.  “I didn’t want to get any work done today anyway.”

“Oh stop!”  Their mother chided playfully.

“At any rate, thanks again.” Alice nodded.  “I’ll be sure to visit soon; I know it’s been awhile.”

“I look forward to it, dear!  Please take care, everyone!”

 

* * *

 

“They’re backing off from behind…” Hourai drawled before wincing.  “Shit- I think I just lead you into an ambush.”

“No-” The magician grunted as she banked hard to the side, avoiding a sudden burst of wind.  “-I figured this was going to happen.”

“What’d I tell you, Momiji?”  The attacking crow tengu called out, floating down in front of the two.  “Look for where you don’t want them to go, and that’s where they’ll be.” Aya shook her head and shrugged.  “Of course, it’s not like _Miss Kirisame_ was going to have the speed to get through.”

The white wolf tengu appeared to be more agitated than the magician by the reporter’s appearance.  “Or maybe, it has to do with the fact I told you she outright said ‘I’m heading to the summit’ that tipped-”

“Anyway…” The crow tengu interrupted.  “I’m sure you’d like to get an advance copy of the Bunbunmaru News, but-”

“Nah, we’re good on kindling.”  Hourai cut her off.

“Oh, that hurts, Miss Hourai.  That truly, _truly_ hurts me.”  She tapped her chest.  “Right here.”

“Just do your fucking job, Commander…”  Momiji covered her face.

“Now, now…” Aya tsked.  “That’s no way to-”

“ _Aya._ ”  Marisa barked.  “Get. The fuck.  Out of my way.”

“Miss Kirisame,” she sighed patiently, “I’m _sure_ you think you have important business up here, but we’re _very busy_ right now.”

“Yeah, I imagine so.”  She growled. “Probably have a new god or two, telling you the very same thing, eh?  They’re sure your independent rule is _very~ cute,_ but you’re going to submit anyway ‘cause that’s all you know how to do from living under  _the oni_ _."_

Aya’s business smile remained, but her cold eyes gave her mood away.

“That’s… an interesting theory, Miss Kirisame, but as usual, all you are is ta-”

Marisa turned her broom, showing her passenger.  Momiji raised her eyebrows as Aya paused.

“...look familiar, ‘Commander’?”

“L- listen.”  The crow tengu finally sighed.  “We’re… taking care of this. Don’t worry about it, just… go home.”

“She threatened my home and my sister, Aya.”  Swinging around, Marisa began to advance. “I’m going to see the god.”

“Miss Kiri-”

“You _lack_ what it takes to stop me, Aya.”

The crow tengu rolled her eyes.  “Look- your speed and power? It’s- it’s cute.  For, you know, a human. Just turn back, before you hurt yourself, Miss Kiri-”

Marisa leveled the mini-hakkero at her opponent.  “STOP FUCKING CALLING ME THAT!”

Aya smirked as she moved to dodge out of the way of the oncoming blast, only for her face to give way to a look of shock as she found one of her wings tangled by threads.

Drawing the threads tighter with a clenched her fist, Hourai sneered.

 

Momiji Inubashiri was having a bad day.

The gods from outside had put the entire mountain in a state of chaos since their appearance.  She was unsure of how they could be so powerful with so little followers, but it was clear they were gaining more support each and every day.

There had been talk that some amongst the tengu and kappa were already worshiping them in secret, and the petty patrol officer was certain it was not simply speculation.  Lord Tenma decided to try and put a stop to their rampant growth before the tengu lacked the strength to face them anymore, but as always, complications had arisen.

They had planned to take out the lesser god as their lord tied Divinity Yasaka up in talks and negotiations, but she had left earlier than expected, evading the ambush altogether.  As they searched for her, word of a kappa inventor going crazy turned out to be an enraged mage from the foot of the mountain, making a beeline for the new gods. No one knew if they were reinforcements for their opponent, or an enemy of their enemy, but Momiji was the one unfortunate enough to encounter her.

After failing to stop the magician, the wolf tengu checked in with her boss; they assured her they were sending her the perfect back-up:  someone powerful and already had ties to the humans. Much to Momiji’s chagrin, Aya _technically_ fit the description.  After the crow tengu gave her an earful for failing to protect the mountain, she claimed she would take care of the intruders.

While the white wolf did not wish to fail her lord, she was content to watch the fight unfold from outside the combat area.  She felt a twinge of jealousy as she watched the human magician take her aggression out on the Commander of the crow tengu’s spy network.

Despite being so young, it was clear to Momiji that the human was _quite_ battle hardened.  She had seen as much when the magician began to carve a path of destruction through the Genbu Ravine, right up until she met Nitori.  The tengu had to admit she was relieved when the magician left her kappa friend alone, even if she had continued her rampage upon reaching the waterfall.

The crow tengu winced as the doll’s knife slid into the joint of her wing, keeping Aya from folding them away.  The brief pause was all the magician needed to point her focus and end the fight. Catching her by the back of her shirt, the human held Aya; Momiji began to float in their direction.  The two visibly relaxed as the white wolf sheathed her blade.

She held out her hand.  The human stared at her for a moment before cautiously accepting the handshake.

“Momiji Inubashiri, Sergeant of the White Wolf Tengu Petty Patrol of Youkai Mountain.”

“Marisa Kirisame… magic and muscle of the Hakurei Shrine.”

“And now I have a name that will not anger you, Magister Marisa.”

Marisa grunted.  “Sorry, used to my sister introducing me; she’s not here right now.”

“From what I heard, you are not here to assist Divinity Yasaka?”

A smile of cold fury formed on the magician’s face.

“Just to a slice of humble pie.”

“I s-”

“Served ass first.”

“Hm.”  She raised her eyebrows briefly.  “I… believe I just discovered something I do not _ever_ wish to see take place.”

“Look…” Marisa tried to rein in her anger.  “If you want a full report on all this shit, just- head down to the Hakurei Shrine.  I’ll be returning there once I’m done here.”

“Given all that’s happened, that may be a good idea.”

Nodding, the magician hauled the crow tengu up.  “Take this with you; I have enough dead weight as it is.”

Momiji grunted, throwing Aya over her shoulder.

“Take care uh…”  The magician paused and rubbed her temples, sighing after a moment.  The doll leaned close and whispered something in her ear. “ _Ser_.  Thank you, Hourai.  Take care, Ser Inubashiri; I’ll see you later.”

Motioning to the rest of her unit, Momiji watched the two leave for the summit.  She turned to those under her command.

“Orders, Ser?”  One saluted.

“I’m getting tapped to handle the diplomatic fallout from this; let Command know where I, and this sack of shit will be.  If they have no new orders for you, continue your patrol, but avoid engagement if you can.”

Her division shook with suppressed laughed as they saluted once more.

“A-as you wish, ser!  Good luck!”

 

* * *

 

“Did you know…” Hourai started, manipulating the threads to saturate the rag with the bottle of ether, “that apparently some schools of magic users _drink_ this stuff to regain their power?”

There was a low groan from the back of the broom.

“Really?”  Marisa frowned.

Standing on the back of her head, the doll swung the rag down and grabbed the other end as it came back, forcing Sanae to breathe the ether.  “That’s what I was told back home!”

“Weird.”

“Seriously.”  Checking her breathing after she returned to unconsciousness, Hourai corked the bottle and placed it back in the satchel.

Arriving at the summit, the two could see a large shrine off in the distance.  Signs of battle could be seen about, a lot of which seemed to be caused by blunt force from very large objects.  Despite the damage, the shrine and its grounds were remarkably well kept. Well kept… and empty.

“Okay, so…” Hourai sighed.  “You know how I’m broadcasting everything we’re doing to back home, right?”

“Yeah?”  Marisa returned the sigh; she had an inkling of an idea where her companion was going with the conversation.

“Look, you _know_ I’m super pissed about this, too… but I also have Shanghai in my head as well.”

“You don’t gotta mince words with me, yo.”  Reaching into her satchel, Marisa downed a potion.  Her physical strength increased, she hauled Sanae off of her broom and carried her with an arm.  “Just fuckin’ say it.”

“Look, I’m just saying… let’s not go in guns blazing on this.  I’m not saying ‘bend over backwards for the fuckers’, but… see what the hell they were thinking, you know?  Mother pointed out it’s kind of odd that they’d try to launch an attack against us when they clearly have their hands full with the tengu.  It’d be one thing if they’d already subdued them, but-”

“No, no-” She sighed once more.  “I- I get it. I just…”

Sitting on her shoulder, the doll pat her on the back of the neck.  “Hey, I’ll help you with this, okay? I got Mother and Shanghai to help give us things to say without soundin’ weak, you know?  We got this. We’ll drop her off, go ‘knock that off, yo’ head home, and get so fuckin’ shitfaced we’ll wake up yesterday.”

The magician snorted, interrupting her streak of rage.  “ _Fine,_ fine…” she shook her head as the approached the offertory box, “just one problem with that.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s nobody here.”

The two looked around, all alone at the Moriya Shrine.

“...this _does_ put a kink in my plan.”  Hourai admitted, tossing a string around the rope attached to the bell.  Reaching into her component bag, Marisa threw a lead slug into the box; the doll began to rattle the bell violently.

“Hey, shitfuckers!  Totally pious people looking to meet their god here!”  The magician screamed over the din.

“Don’t think they believed you.”  Hourai commented as she stopped. The magician started to chuckle.

“...sorry, everyone back at the shrine.” She gave an embarrassed glance to the doll.  “I suppose that wasn’t very diplomatic of me.”

“Got a laugh out of Mima…” Hourai grinned, scratching her nose.  She looked out over the lake nearby. They could see a God’s Path heading out towards the center.  “Are you…?”

“Yeah, no, that feels… charged.”  The magician pulled her broom towards the lake, peering out over the surface.  “Yeah, I think- yeah, something’s out there over the water there.” Ignoring the growing fight between anger and anxiety in the pit of her stomach, Marisa began to follow the path.

 

“Oi!”

The blue-haired woman sitting at the middle of the lake glanced up; in her hand was a mirror attached to her necklace, projecting an image of a tengu.  Marisa held up the unconscious wind charmer.

“This yours?”

“...let me call you back.” She murmured to Lord Tenma, the image disappearing.  Letting the mirror hang once more, the woman sat up straight and regarded the magician.  “That… is my wind charmer, yes. Did Sanae give you some trouble?”

“She threatened my sister.”  Tremors of anger shook her voice as she threw the girl towards the god.  The woman reached out, slowing Sanae’s descent until the girl hovered above her hands.  “I do _not_ appreciate that.”

“That’s… odd, I did not send her out to do such a thing.”  She frowned, looking her girl over. The circular rope attached to her back let out a flash of light as Sanae disappeared, spirited away to some place safe.  The god turned her attention back to the visitors. “My name is Kanako Yasaka, God of Wind and Rain. I had sent Sanae out to ally with the humans at the foot of the mountain.”

“Making Reimu cry is a _very poor way to do that_.”  The broom handle creaked under the magician’s grip, her body starting to vibrate with rage.  Hourai placed a hand on the back of her neck and whispered into her ear. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but you’ve already pissed off the tengu and kappa.”

Kanako smiled patiently.  “We’re uniting the mountain under one rule.  Issues with the kappa and tengu have almost been addressed.  I was hoping having some followers at the foot of the mountain would help the expansion into the rest of Gensokyo proper, but…” she picked up her mirror once more, turning her attention towards it, “I think we should be fine.  Thanks for returning Sanae, I appreciate it.”

“Do you honestly think-”

“I’m sorry,” Kanako cut the magician off, her tone turning business-like, “I have no time for the faithless.  Good day.”

Movement from Hourai caught Marisa’s eye.  The doll leaned away from the god, repulsed.

“Wh- _what?_ ”  She asked, aghast.  The god raised an eyebrow, looking at the doll.  “What… did you just say?”

“I don’t have time to spare for those who do not believe.”

The doll stared at the woman.  “Y… you’re a _god._ ”

“Exactly.”  She stated flatly.

“No!”  Hourai shook her head.  “You’re supposed to protect those in your domain.  You need to _give_ them reason to believe.”

“ _There’s_ a childish belief!”  Kanako rolled her eyes before focusing on the mirror once more.  “I suppose I should expect as much from a child’s toy, of course.  But, no. My responsibility is to eliminate those who are my competition for faith.  Those who help are rewarded with my blessing, and those that oppose me will be crushed.”

The doll slowly shook her head.  “No… no, you’re not a god.” She grit her teeth, drawing her brows together.  “You’re a _parasite_.”

“It would be wise for you to _leave, doll._ ”

“Gensokyo is not your plaything to take over!”  Hourai screamed. “You will _never_ have domain over Reimu’s soul!”  She turned to Marisa, her eyes glowing with anger.  “My plan? It was shit. Forget it. Let’s go with _your plan_.”

From the lake, four massive pillars emerged, each adorned with a sacred rope. They attached themselves to the shimenawa at Kanako’s back, causing her to glow with power.

“You will regret your decision, child.  I stand with the faith of _millions._ ”

“I…” The magician held up her spell cards, fanning them out, “only need the faith of _one_.”  As she took position, she turned her head in her companion’s direction.  “Not that it’s going to affect my decision, but what are they saying back home?”

The doll stood on her shoulder.  She shook with fury as she glared down at Kanako; the god was the antithesis of all she held dear, a complete corruption of her own faith.  “Sh… Shanghai has one order for us.”

“What is it?”

“She said… ‘Harm her’.”

 

* * *

 

“I think it would be a good idea if you took over advisory duties, Alice…” The lich commented as they watched the battle unfold.  Reimu held the doll in blue; Shanghai had become nearly as inconsolable as Reimu herself had been, after giving her last order to her sister.

“It’s- it’s not supposed to be like that…” She whispered tearfully to the shrine maiden.  “Gods aren’t-”

“It’ll be okay, Shanghai.”  Reimu murmured, watching their sisters.  She held the doll against her chest, petting her softly.  “Have faith in Hourai. Believe in her.”

“-and while this may be obvious, but do _not_ take her lightly,”  Alice ordered, talking to Hourai, “from what I’m gathering, not only is she an ancient god, but she is also a god of _war_ .  You are on her turf, and she’s in her element.  Use _everything_ at your disposal for this, and don’t expect any tricks to work twice on her.”

The puppeteer leaned back and sighed.  “...I’m sorry Reimu, I suppose I should have seen this as a potential outcome.  Just because we found something wearing the skin of a god does not mean it will actually be helpful.”

“You guys are really offended by what she said.”  Mima mused as she packed her pipe. She could feel her skin start to crawl as Alice’s harsh glare fell on her.

“Do you honestly think what she said is acceptable?!”  She demanded. “To abandon those in need because they-”

“Woah, woah!”  The lich held up her hands, grinning.  She could see the magic of the puppeteer’s grimoire begin to bleed into her, making her eyes change colours.  “I’m not defending her, you know! I agree, she’s a selfish little shit! But…” She shrugged and lit her pipe as Alice turned her attention back to the battle, “that’s how nearly _all_ the terran gods have always been.  You should know that. It’s a big part of the reason why Marisa and I have never put much stock in religion, you know?  I’m not saying I like it, just-”

“It’s an unacceptable line of thinking!”  Alice snapped, moving the runes in the Grimoire.  The point of view pulled away from Hourai’s eyes, allowing them to see the battlefield in its entirety.  “To put your entire focus on gaining faith? To forsake those who don’t know better?! That’s disgusting!”

The shrine maiden reached out and touched one of Alice’s arms; the tension began to leave the puppeteer’s body as she sighed.

“I’m- I’m sorry to go off like that Reimu.”  She whispered. “But Marisa is right; she needs to be taken down a peg or two if she’s going to hold power here in Gensokyo.  To have someone this powerful here with those ideas? It’ll be a blight covering the land.”

“Foolish child!”  The god screamed at her black-white opponent, filling the sky with bullets.  “You know _nothing!_  Have you ever starved?!  Have you ever witnessed all you have built be abandoned?!”

“I’ve starved!”  Marisa shot back, throwing a shield up and crashing through Kanako’s attack.  “I know hunger! I know what it’s like to be abandoned!”

“YOU DESERVE TO STARVE!”  Hourai threw her hands up high, gathering the kinetic energy absorbed from Marisa’s shield.  Staring directly into Kanako’s eyes, she slammed the energy into the mini-hakkero. “YOU! DESERVE!  TO BE ABANDONED!”

Holding her focus at chest height, Marisa held her spell card in front of her mini-hakkero.  “ **Ritual Sign: Orreries Solar System!** ”

Mima smiled as she watched her danmaku fill the air; her daughter had learned well.

Motioning with a hand, the four titanic pillars launched themselves at Marisa.  The magician jumped off her broom and sprinted down the length on the one closest to Kanako, heading straight for her opponent.  As she closed in on the edge, Marisa threw one of her bombs down, filling the area with smoke. The god coughed and choked; she glanced towards movement from below the lake before a thunderous crashing from above demanded her attention.  The back end of the pillar spun up through the smoke and smashed down hard against the arm Kanako brought up to defend herself.

As the smoke cleared, she spotted the doll with her arms out, shaking with rage and tension.  As Hourai brought her hands together, Kanako quickly glanced to her sides and immediately stuck her arms out, stopping the two wire-trapped pillars from slamming together on her.

Water splashed directly below her.  Jumping out of the lake, Marisa slammed the focus against the god’s mirror.

“Love Sign…!”

Beams of light escaped from between the gap.  Kanako froze.

“MASTER SPARK!”

The mirror cracked.

 

* * *

 

“Well…” Kanako let out an embarrassed chuckle as she floated back down to the lake.  “That… well done chil- no. Well done Magisters.”

At the edge of her vision, Marisa could see her own spell cards in her hand.  All five were black as the void, completely spent; it would take some time for them to recharge.  Moving her fingers, she restacked the cards and slid them back into place.

“You…” She pointed at the god, careful to keep her breathing even.  The fight had taken more out her than she cared to admit. “...are going to bring Sanae with you to our shrine, and apologize to my sister for what you’ve done.”

Kanako gave a nod.  “That’s fair.”

“After that, you can explain to us what you’re really doing here.  We’ve been looking for gods like you for longer than I’d like to admit right now, and now all of a sudden, I find half a dozen in an hour.”  She put her hand back on the broom, frowning. “Now, it could very well just be we’ve been looking in every single wrong place until now, but I’d like to be certain the two aren’t connected somehow, okay?”

The god chuckled, holding up her hands.  “That- I understand how that can look weird, I don’t mind going into more detail.”

Hourai frowned.  Peering at the god, she noticed the cracks on the mirror begin to disappear.  An icy dread began to well up from the pit of her stomach.

“Look, it’s not even lunchtime, and-”

“Marisa…?”  She whispered.

“-I just want to get this- what’s wrong?”

“She’s being empowered.”  Tearing her eyes away, she looked at her companion.  “There’s another one!”

“Wha-?”

Behind the magician, Hourai could see a dark sore appear in the sky.

Adrenaline flooded her system.

“Mari-!”  Jumping from her shoulder, Hourai landed on her hand and grabbed the amulet wrapped around her wrist.  As she turned, the doll’s shield surrounded the two just before a wave of raw negative energy crashed into it.

Both the magician and the god flinched as the blast persisted, held in check by the red field.  Hourai slowly stood, keeping a hold of the amulet as she held her free hand towards her projection.

“M… Mima!”  She shouted.  “The next time… you’re making a charm against curses…” She grit her teeth, focusing her strength.  “Just ask for some of our blood! It’ll work a lot better!” Giving one last push, the field reflected the blast back, knocking the dark cloud into the air before exploding.

The doll slowly lowered her arm, panting heavily.

“Because for this… Makai… always provides.”

“Aw, Makai?”  A voice called out.  “That’s just cheating!”

A short blonde girl in a purple dress flew towards the group, taking everyone in.

“Of course… I’m still good to go if you are.”

“Ah…”  Kanako coughed.  “Good morning… Suwako.”

  


Suwako

 

“I didn’t realize you were awake.”

Marisa’s eyes flicked down to her spell cards for only a moment.  As she had expected, there was only the slightest of slivers uncovered on a single card.  While she mentally catalogued her resources, the magician could not help but notice the odd tension between the two gods.

“Well… I _was_ sleeping… ‘cause, you know - you’re a jerk-”

“Mm-hm.”

“And then _somebody_ , I’m not sayin’ who-” she stared the god of wind and rain in the eyes, “ _Kanako_ \- somebody dropped an unconscious Sanae on me.  Kanako.”

“Ah.”  The person who Suwako refused to name cleared her throat.  “Yeah, s-”

“And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Sanae who did it, ‘cause… _unconscious._ ”  She stared at her.  “Kanako.”

“Both of our mothers are instructing to pull back.”  Hourai murmured, keeping an eye on the situation. “If they try to call you a coward, just-”

“Look-” She interrupted, trying to keep her eyes on the gods.  Every now and then, she caught Suwako sizing them up. “-in the water.”

Leaning over her shoulder, the doll looked down.  Her eyes went wide.

“Those- those are big snakes.”  She grimaced.

The magician reached into her bag.

“-so to conclude, you’re dumb.  Not only that, but- WOAH!” Suwako turned towards Marisa, who held a sealed metal container.  “Woah, woah, woah…! Woah there…! Let’s- let’s _not_ put things in our mouths that glow through solid containers, eh?”

Marisa only stared, her hand still gripping the lid.  Hourai’s eye twitched, her ear aching from communication back at home.

“Mima’s screaming something about a ‘condensed æ-flow’?”  She stated quietly. “A uh, a _lot_ of screaming, even for her.  Do not… _drink…?!_ ”

“Let’s… talk, kid.”  The god’s smile did little to put Marisa at ease, reminding her of the looks she often saw on card sharks.  “I’m Suwako Moriya, God of Mountains and Curses, power behind the Moriya Shrine. ‘Course, looks like you’ve been roughhousing those that’ve been tappin’ that power.  So… who are you?”

Marisa continued to stare, considering her options one final time.  “...Marisa Kirisame, Magister of the Hakurei Shrine. Sister to the shrine maiden.”

“Ah, that shrine at the foot of the mountain.”  She nodded before giving the magician a piercing stare.  “Who’s your god?”

“Not you.”

The blonde god smirked.  “Cute. In your _shrine_ , you dork.”

“The position is currently vacant.”

The curse god blinked, her brows drawing together for a moment.  Holding up a finger to Marisa, she turned to the other god.

“Heavens and Hells, how… fucking… _dumb are you two?_ ”  Suwako gave the god of wind and rain a look of utter disgust.  “It’s a empty shrine, you moron! You just give them an application, you don’t pick a _fight_ with them!”

“I don’t-”  Kanako gave an exasperated sigh.  “I don’t know _why_ she did that, Suwako!  I told her to gather allies!”

Hourai leaned close.  “I feel like I’m watching you g-”

“Even you, I will kill for that, Hourai.”  Marisa interrupted through clenched teeth. The doll snorted.

“...Mima just said the same thing.” She snickered.

Suwako put a hand to her brow and sighed.  “I swear to Me, you two will be the death of me, and you won’t even have the decency to make it a betrayal.”  She shook her head and groaned. “Fuck it, whatever, we have their muscle now, so-”

“Uh, excuse me?”  Marisa arched an eyebrow.  Suwako looked at her, no longer smiling.

“You already know you can’t run, and I’m sure you know you’ll just kill yourself if you use that.  Even if you do somehow stop me, who’s going to protect your sister then?”

No longer fully paying attention to Suwako’s words, Marisa cataloged her resources once more.  As she started to twist the cap, Hourai put her hand on Marisa’s finger.

“Hey, you have more of a brain than the two I help, awesome.”  The curse god turned towards the shrine. “I’ll go absorb the shrine into the network; we’ll find out what the sister can do later.”

The doll stood up.  “Don’t you _dare_ lay a finger-”

The curse god spun back around, glaring.  “I’m not in the mood, doll! We can’t all sustain ourselves on hopes and dreams you spoke of!  Some of us have to get shit done! What you preach will never accomplish anything!”

“‘Cept kickin’ Kanako’s ass.”  Marisa sneered. Suwako’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, colour me impressed.  Think you can do that again? No, I didn’t think so.”

Hourai rubbed her ear as her mother shouted instructions, advising on the best way to attempt escape.

The doll blinked.  Her mother was watching.

The connection to Makai was open.

As the scowling Suwako moved back towards Marisa, Hourai hopped on top of the container, falling to her knees.

“Shinki… hear my plea…”

“It will do you _no good_ to pray to another, doll!”  Her pace quickened. “And you are moving me from annoyed to _angry!_ ”

“Give us the strength to defeat our foes… to protect Reimu… and to show this _bitch what it means to be a god!_ ”

The two were surrounded by prismatic glow, refreshing their minds and bodies.  Marisa could feel the canister lighten as the contents were taken as payment.

“Two out of three isn’t bad, sweetie…” Shinki’s cheerful voice came through.  “But one was more than enough.”

Suwako skid to a halt; she was uncertain if she should be _furious_ about a foreign god daring to grant their power on her consecrated grounds, or if she should be _frightened_ of a being powerful enough to do so without the slightest bit of worry.

Sensing a change, Marisa flipped out her spell cards; all five shone with a bright golden light, charged and ready for use.

There was a happy sigh from their Makai patron as the last of the æ-flow was consumed.  “Now… make your sisters and mothers proud!”

“Right on, Shinki…” Marisa grinned.  “Right on. Hey, Suwako!”

The curse god grit her teeth.  “...what?”

The field of the spell card rules washed over all of them.  “Five cards.”

 

* * *

 

“Kanako?”

“Yes?”

“How did we end up here?”

The god of heavenliness sat next to the god of earthliness, with the wind charmer on the other side of her.  Behind them, Marisa stood, calling out to her sister in the shrine.

“Well… you decided to step into _my_ side of the bargain, and got your ass handed to you, because you underestimated the strengths of your opponents.”

“I only lost because-”

“Allies are a strength.”  Kanako interrupted. “I believe that’s what I was trying to _prove_ this morning.”

“Well, if you had just done your job-”

“I was attempting to _do_ my job; accepting defeat is part of that-”

A growl from the magician quieted the two; they grinned.

The door to the shrine cracked open; they could see a face peek out at everyone.

“Come on Reimu, it’s okay… these three have something to say to you!”

Opening a little further, a tiny girl stepped out and closed the doors behind herself.  Pattering over to the group, she stopped and bowed.

“G-good morning, everyone!” She exclaimed, clearly nervous.  “Wel- welcome to the Hakurei Shrine!”

“Not yet, Reimu.”  She looked down at the gods; Hourai flew over and took her place on Reimu’s shoulder, looking down at the three.  Marisa continued. “Oi; you three.”

“Sorry for threatening you, Miss Hakurei.”  Sanae murmured.

“I apologize for the trouble our shrine and pantheon have caused you, Miss Hakurei.”  Kanako bowed.

“I’m… sorry?” Suwako shrugged.  “I don’t know what _I_ did wrong, but- ow!”  The blonde god flinched from her counterpart’s attack.

“O-oh!  It- it’s okay-”  Reimu motioned for them to rise.

“It’s really not.”  Marisa murmured.

“P-please!  Come inside, we’ve all gathered up and-”

“Mima~” A familiar voice called out.  A gap in spacetime appeared, revealing Yukari.  “I have some _great news_ which’ll cheer up even you of all peop-”  She paused as her eyes fell on the group, the gods still on the ground.

The sage youkai blinked.

“H-hey, Lady Yakumo…” Kanako smiled sheepishly.  Reimu gave a bow.

Yukari’s gaze moved from the gods to Marisa.  She slowly looked back at the group.

“Ugh…” She sighed, sinking back down into the gap.

 

* * *

 

Quickly realizing the living room would be far too crowded with the other mountain residents already present, the shrine maiden escorted everyone to the backyard.  The yard was quite clean, Reimu having raked up the leaves out of nervousness earlier. Laying down a cloth, the shrine maiden prepared the area for a picnic.

“W-welcome, everyone!”  Reimu smiled as everyone sat down.  “F-for those who don’t know one another-”

Marisa stood back with her pipe as she watched her sister introduce the visitors of the mountains to one another and the shrine’s residents and extended family.  The energy boost from Shinki remained with her, allowing her to feel calm and alert after her morning of combat.

“-And I believe you all know them now, but that’s my sister Marisa and this is my friend and guardian Hourai!”

As the magician began to give a wave, the door to the shrine slammed open, Mima looked around frantically before settling on Marisa.  Her eyes narrowed. “Give!” She ordered, flying right over to her. “Give- give it. Give it here-”

“Oi!”  Holding her pipe up in an attempt to keep it out of arm’s reach, Marisa quickly realized her mother was after her travel bag.  Her free hand clamped down on the cover as Mima grabbed the sides of the bag. “Don’t- just gimme me a sec-”

“Give- it- HERE!”

“And that’s Marisa’s mother, Magister Mima.” Reimu continued on, undeterred by the antics.  “She’s very nice!”

“When did you take this?!”  The lich demanded, holding the empty sealed container.  “Tell me, when did you take this from me?!”

“Like the next day after you ripped it from my hands after the stint Yuyuko pulled?”  Marisa shrugged, lighting her pipe once more. “Have you _seriously_ not looked in that drawer in all those years?”

“Mima…” Yukari sighed.

“Cheeky little kid…” She squinted down at her daughter, swiping the offered pipe.  “I raised you too well.”

“If we could focus here…” The sage youkai continued.

“Yeah, yeah, don't get your bloomers in a bunch…”

 

* * *

 

“... and so, by bringing the forces of Youkai Mountain closer,” Kanako continued, explaining their motivations for their recent actions, “we’re hoping to bring an industrial revolution to Gensokyo, along with strengthening ties with the friendlier youkai species.”

“I see.”  Reimu nodded.  “Well, I do understand there is more happening than what we can address right this moment but,”  she looked at Nitori and the two tengu, “it might be a good idea to inform your leaders of their intentions to help further open a dialog.”

The crow tengu chuckled softly.  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Reimu.  You see-”

Momiji rolled her eyes.  “I’ll let Command know the Hakurei Clan has given the Moriya Pantheon their tentative approval.”  She turned to Yukari. “I feel it’s safe to assume the Yakumo Clan feels the same?”

Aya let out a small sigh.  “Momiji, what are you doing, girl?”

“The Yakumo Clan grants its approval for their endeavor.” Yukari nodded.  Reimu smiled nervously, picking up on the sage youkai’s agitation. The shrine maiden turned to the kappa.

“How about you, Machinist Nitori?  I understand your leadership is non-standard, but-”

“Oh!”  She flinched at the sudden attention.  “Um, yes! I’ll- I’ll be sure to report all of this back to, um-”

“It’s okay!”  Reimu raised her hands, attempting to calm her.  “You- you don’t need to be nervous!”

“Ah, um th-thank you, Miss Hakurei!”

“Oh, it- it’s not a problem!”

Marisa passed the pipe to her mother as they both watched the two accidentally fluster one another.

“Hey Aya…” Marisa started as she noticed the crow tengu about to say something.  “This ah… this seems like important stuff! Why aren’t you taking notes?”

For the first time since the magician had met her, Aya scowled.

“ _Because,_ Miss Kirisame, I can’t!”  She opened to a blank page and thrust the moleskin in her face; the magician watched the page quickly fill up with ‘Marisa’ over and over in varying angles, styles, and shapes.  “Ever since I arrived here, any page I turn to does this!”

“Weird…” Mima commented, stone faced.  “It’s almost as if it’s trying to tell.  You. Something.”

“Oh, that’s a nice curse…” Suwako grinned, looking at the notebook.  “Quite infectious, too.”

Nitori and Momiji began to scoot further away.  Hina drifted closer.

“I ah… can take that off your hands, if you’d like.”

“N-no, it’s **my** book!”  Aya held it closer.  Yukari sighed.

“U-um!”  Reimu piped up, attempting to get the conversation back on track.

“How do I get rid of this stupid curse?!”

Both Suwako and Mima stared at Aya.

“You’re on your own, bird.”  The curse god shrugged. “Maybe if you hadn’t been causing so many problems for us, _but…_ ”

The lich’s eyes darted from her niece to Yukari before moving back to Aya.  She motioned the crow tengu closer.

“It’s simple.”  She whispered as the reporter approached.  Waiting until Aya knelt next to her, Mima leaned forward to whisper in the tengu’s ear, deliberately reaching up high with her free arm.  “Just say…” Her hand approached the reporter’s wing. “Her name…” She clamped down on a feather. “You twat.”

Aya flinched as the lich plucked the feather before leaning back.  The tengu flapped her wing before sighing.

“So, Miss Kiri-”

“Are you _trying_ to make it worse?”  Suwako laughed. “Tomorrow’s paper should be interesting.”

Her eyes closed, Aya let out a heavy sigh.

“...Miss Marisa.”

“ _Magister_ Marisa, if you’re trying to have a lick of accuracy in your paper, but…” The lich smiled.  “That’ll do… for now. Of course, if you try to go back to pestering my daughter, well,” Still smiling, Mima touched the feather to her nose as she looked at Aya.  “At least this time I’ll have a nice focus.”

A snickering laugh emerged from Momiji as she helped Nitori stand.  She slapped the horrified Aya’s shoulder. “Alright, I think that’s our cue to leave.  Divinities, I believe you’ll get messages from our leaders soon enough. Magisters, shrine maiden, unassociated divinites… pleasure to meet you all.”

“You as well, Sergeant; Machinist.”  Alice nodded. The white wolf’s eyes darted from the sage youkai to Mima.  She glanced at Reimu. “Miss Hakurei, if you could be so kind as to escort us…”

“O-oh!  Certainly!  Please excuse me, everyone!”

As the kappa and tengu were escorted out, the gods exchanged glances with the magicians.

“If we can focus on the important things now…”  Yukari poured herself another drink.

“We need to address a related note first.”  Pocketing the feather, Mima turned her cold gaze on Sanae.  “Wind charmer.”

“Yes?”

“What the fuck were you thinking?”

The living god let out an agitated sigh.  “This is not the first shrine I’ve been to.”  She answered curtly. “This is the fifth.”

“Let’s skip to the part where this starts to make sense.”

“The first two I tried to convert peacefully.  They both fought with tooth and nail. It took not only _I_ bringing them low, but Divinity Yasaka as well before they finally accepted.  Begrudgingly. When the third did the same after I had defeated them, I had had enough.  I told them to leave, or be destroyed. When Divinity Yasaka came that time, they bargained with her before she had to resort to force.”

“And the fourth?”

“I threatened.  It only took two of their acolytes to fall before _they_ wished to bargain.”  Despite her tone, Sanae’s face remained neutral.  “I don’t like having to do that, Magister Mima. But Gensokyo has taught me it only respects violence, so I’ve been treating it as such.”

“You’re an idiot, child.”  The lich shook her head, blowing out smoke.  “If you wish to convert a people, you need to learn about them first.  Watch the citizens, find out about their beliefs, see how their religion is practiced-”

“Their beliefs don’t matter, only-”

Mima snapped her fingers; there was a sound of tearing fabric before Sanae’s chest expanded and sank.

“ _I_ believe broken bones get the point across to an individual right quick.”  The lich took a sip of her sake. “But my niece gets upset by that, believing it’s not necessary.  So tell me,” she gave the wind charmer a piercing glare, “whose beliefs matter more?”

Lowering her head into her hand, Sanae let out a tired groan.

“Was that your last-?” Kanako murmured, leaning close.

“Last one that fit right.”  She muttered. “Lady Yakumo?  I don’t suppose you could tell me of a lingerie shop in Gensokyo, could you?”

“Sorry dear; I’ve been going to Magister Margatroid as of late for repair work and alterations.”

“That would be the one my sister introduced as ‘the personal family friend, and Diplomat of Makai.”  Marisa added.

Before Sanae could reach for the alcohol instead, Alice held out a hand, setting down her tea cup.  Sitting upright, the wind charmer pulled her arms through the straps before pulling the brassiere out from the side vent in her top.

“That’s ah… pretty impressive, not tangling your sleeves in that.”  The black-white magician nodded as the puppeteer took the damaged undergarment.  Sanae looked at her for a moment, trying to determine the intent before answering.

“When your work days are long and the ones you wear don’t always fit right, you quickly learn how.”

“Alright, I suppose that’s more or less been dealt with, let’s get down to brass tacks… for Yukari’s sake, if anything else.”

“Thank you.”  The sage youkai looked over everyone present; the three gods turned their attention to her, along with the two magisters living at the shrine.  Suika nursed her gourd as Alice continued her work; Ruukoto cleaned up the used plates. Hina remained far off as to keep her powers from causing issues, while the two autumn gods sat between Marisa and Alice.  “I brought the Moriya Pantheon over to Gensokyo to take care of the problem we’re currently having with this shrine… and given what their status was Outside, I figured taking care of the problems on the mountain would be a good test for them.  However…” Her expression darkened as she looked between Sanae and Marisa. “It appears things went… awry. But that, as you said, has been addressed… yes?”

“It’s out of my system for the most part, yeah.”  The magician shrugged.

“Yes.” Sanae nodded.

“Good.”  Yukari looked over the Moriya family.  “I feel it’s safe to assume the power dynamic hasn’t changed?”

Kanako gave a nod.  “We’re continuing forth as before.”

“I’ll handle the workload…”  Suwako took a drink from her dish.  “And those two will handle sales, as it were.”

“Alright, good.”  The sage nodded. “Good.  Given Sanae’s primary position as priestess and wind charmer, I believe you had planned to align Kanako to-”

“No.”

The group turned to Alice; her eyes flicked up as she continued to sew, holding Yukari’s surprised gaze.

“The Moriya’s acceptance of their defeat grants them a chance to prove themselves in their willingness to change.”  The puppeteer’s eyes began to pulse with her Grimoire’s glow. “But until that change is proven, I stand with my daughters’ choice to deny them domain over Reimu. Right now, their talk of faith as a _business_ does little to convince me of the sincerity of that desire.”

Kanako put a hand on Suwako’s leg before the curse god could speak.  “You may be a diplomat,” the god acknowledged, “but these matters do not concern Makai, magister.”

Alice’s gaze moved to the gods; the chromatic flux became more chaotic.  “‘This does not concern you’ is the battle cry of those who detest morals and rights, divinity.”  Snipping the last thread, Alice poured magic over the article of clothing, cleansing it. “Keep in mind I am not saying you are unwelcome here, nor am I saying your help is unwanted.  I am quite certain your knowledge and assistance will be crucial to Gensokyo’s survival. However,” with a flick of her wrist, the brassiere returned to its owner, “with everything I heard and witnessed during the incident, you are not the suitable choice for this shrine.  At least, not yet.”

Yukari rubbed the side of her head.  “Mima, Marisa; your opinions on this?”

The lich blew a cloud of smoke into the air.  “I don’t have the same passion for the work of higher beings as Alice, but her logic’s sound.  I got no problem working alongside them; shit, it’ll probably really help with the workload, but they’re not a good fit for Reimu.”

Marisa glanced at the others as she took her pipe back.  “I… believe the last few hours are evidence enough on my opinion.  Besides, we still have a few opt-” She blinked a few times. “Wait a sec!  Eirin!” She turned on her mom. “Why didn’t you tell me about her?!”

“Uh… I thought you already knew her pretty well, dear.”  She arched an eyebrow. “I mean, did you _not_ spend the first month trying to punch her in the nose after meeting her, or… was that someone else?”

The Moriya pantheon exchanged glances.

“No, not that!  She’s a god! Hina told me as much!”

The god of misfortune moved a little further away as the magician pointed at her.

“Ah, so she _is_ ; huh.”  The lich nodded, taking the pipe back from her daughter.  “If you’re not going to use that…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Mostly because I wasn’t completely certain.  Besides, where is she from, Marisa?”

“The moon.”

Sanae blinked.  “What.”

“Not now, dear.” Kanako murmured.

“And why isn’t she there anymore?”

Marisa sighed and rubbed her forehead.  Motioning for the pipe, she cleared her mind as she gave the subject its due consideration.  “Because she followed Kaguya.”

“Meaning…”  Her master took her turn on the pipe.

“She… found the princess more important than the others.”

“So…”

Taking the pipe back, she finished off the contents before handing it back.

“She didn’t want the job, or can’t do it anymore.”

“Exactly.”  Taking the bag Shinki had sent over, Mima refilled the pipe.  “Granted, ‘not wanting the job’ is a good qualification in my book for things like this, but it’s safe to say Yukari would have a conniption fit if we put a Lunarian in charge of Gensokyo’s defense… and really, I’d be right alongside her with that one.”

“I’m happy to hear your sanity continues to return.  However,” Yukari glanced between the magicians, “that does not solve the problem at hand.”

The group turned as they heard the door slide open.  Marisa smiled and stood as her sister returned; motioning to her spot, Marisa began to walk around the circle of people as Reimu sat back down.

With her mind focused once more, the black-white magician began to consider all the options before her.  She gave the Moriya clan a passing glance; while she certainly agreed with the points Alice had made, Marisa’s interactions with the three gave her an impression closer to desperation than despotism.  Though the magician herself had never bothered to leave Gensokyo’s borders, multiple sources had informed her how scarce the arcane and divine had become Outside. For one who had starved, securing food would always be a high priority.

Her gaze lingered on Hina as she paced.  With their shrine devoid of followers, Marisa could see the advantage of the pestilence god’s inherent abilities being quite reliable.  Unfortunately, her power coming from within would likely turn into a bottleneck if Gensokyo needed more than she could provide. The magician also knew Hina’s issue with company would likely cause complications as well.

Her eyes moved to the gods of Autumn.

“Reimu…” Her sister started calmly as she continued to pace, “how did you meet the Aki sisters?”

“Oh!  It was at one of harvest festivals, a long time ago!  Miss- er, _Divinity!_  Divinity Minoriko was selling sweet potatoes; they were very delicious!”  She smiled up at the harvest god. “Th-there wasn’t anyone else in line at the time, so we talked for a bit.  It- it was fun!”

She looked back at her sister.  “Every year when we go, I talk to her for a bit; sometimes Mi- Divinity Shizuha is there as well.  I um… I didn’t know they were gods, though.” She looked back at the two and bowed her head. “I’m sorry if I’ve been rude.”

“Don’t worry Reimu,” Minoriko pat the shrine maiden on the back, “you’ve always been kind to us.”

Marisa glanced at her mother, then at Alice.  Both nodded. The black-white slowly walked back towards her sister, stopping behind the two flaxen-haired gods.

“I nominate the Aki Sisters for the role of our divine roommates.”  She announced, placing her hands on their shoulders. Their eyes went wide.

“Uh-”

“A-are you sure?”  Shizuha asked.

“I… must ask what your reasoning behind your choice is, Marisa.”  Yukari turned her gaze on the magician.

“The main one is gut instinct.  They feel right for this.” She shrugged.  “A number of other things _do_ factor in, however.”

Keeping her hands on the Aki sisters’ shoulders, Marisa nodded at the Moriya pantheon.  “If we were trying to go for the classic Hakurei shrine maiden, then yeah, Kanako and them would make sense.  I know firsthand how much power they have, and they’re very likely to get stronger in the coming years.” She looked back at Yukari.  “But we don’t need to do that. Reimu doesn’t need to handle extermination duties; I can still do that.” The magician shrugged. “Hell, Sanae can help with that if she wants.  All Reimu needs to handle is barrier repair, which even you have admitted she’s getting better at doing.”

“Yes…”

“With a proper shrine, the Aki sisters can start gathering faith better, and seeing as how they aren’t tied to combat, incidents which take time to solve won’t cause faith in them to plummet.  From what I’ve seen of them both in combat and at peace, they have a moral compass pretty closely aligned with my own. And…” The magician paused, thinking for a moment. “This is admittedly more of another gut feeling than anything, but your borders and barriers tend to work on fuzzy concepts, gray areas… things only semi-defined.”

The sage youkai nodded.

“Together, these two control Autumn.  While all seasons have to do with change, Fall is the most known for it.  I mean hell, you have some people in town that can’t tell when Summer ended and Winter began.”

The Autumn gods sighed.

“And… I don’t have solid proof of course-”

Alice chuckled.  Catching her unintentional joke, Marisa growled.

“Since I have _yet to test this_ -”

“I thought it was funny…” Reimu murmured.

“Smelled too much of a pun- but I feel might help with her work.”

Yukari regarded the groups of sisters.

“...at the very least, I can say your reasoning is sound.”  She finally admitted. “I… don’t fully agree with your choice, but a lot of that has to do with their lack of power.  That _will_ make things more difficult.”

“Well hey, you’re in luck then; damn near everyone in our shrine likes to do things the hard way.”  The magician nodded. “At any rate, that’s my decision.”

“Makai finds your choice to be acceptable.”  Alice nodded, sipping her tea.

“You got good reasons,” Mima added, “I’ll back that.”

“Tha ** _t'S Fi_** ne with me.”  Suika chimed in, not letting her burp interrupt her.

“...glad the freeloader approves.”  Marisa sighed. “Yukari?”

“U-um!”  Reimu nervously raised her hand.

“Ah!”  The black-white magician grinned, ruffling her sister’s hair.  “I’m sorry Reimu! Are **you** okay with this?”

“I-it’s fine, but…” She looked up at the two gods next to her.  “Is- is this something you’d be willing to do? We um… we do need a god to help with keeping Gensokyo running, but I know it’s not exactly what your domain is…”

“It- it’s fine…” Minoriko nodded, her eyes wide.  “Just… surprising is all.”

“Are you okay with this, Divinity Shizuha?”

“Holy crap, we get a house!”  The elder of the two sisters exclaimed.  “Awesome!”

“That sounds like a ‘yes’ to me…” Mima mused.  Reimu looked back at her sister.

“If they’re okay with it, then I am as well.”  She smiled.

“Cool.  Yukari?”

“Again, I have concerns, but…” She nodded.  “At the very least, I am willing to try. There’s still enough time for that, at least.”

“Well, I suppose that’s that, then.”  Kanako nodded, standing. The others followed suit.  The shrine maiden approached and bowed.

“I- I look forward to working with all of you!”  She smiled nervously. “I know together, we can make Gensokyo better!”

“Mm, sure k-” Suwako paused at the puppeteer approached, stopping behind Reimu.

Alice Margatroid was tall.  Her usual demeanor did not call attention to the fact, and the ensorcellment of her identity oftentimes made people forget just how much they had to crane their neck to look at her face.  However, when she wished to, she could very easily draw attention to the fact that she had nearly a foot on Sanae, and almost two on Suwako. Even Kanako found herself looking up at the puppeteer.

She took in each of the Moriya pantheon before focusing on Kanako; the magician’s eyes continued to boil through colours.

“I look forward to your progress, divinities.”  She stated, placing her hands on Reimu’s shoulders.

“...I think you will find we will not disappoint, Magister Margatroid.”  Kanako responded, nodding politely.

“Good.  Gensokyo needs all of us, if we are to see this through.”

 

“I’m very sorry about all of the misunderstandings this morning, everyone.”  Reimu had escorted the three from the Moriya clan to the end of the shrine grounds as the others began conversation on installing the Aki sisters officially.  “I look forward to being able to work alongside you! We um, we haven’t had other shrine maidens or gods join since I’ve been here, it’s- it’s exciting to know there’s more now!”

“It’s fine, Miss Hakurei.”  Kanako nodded. “And again, I do apologize as well.  While I feel it may have cost us an opportunity, I believe things should still work out alright.  I suppose Magister Margatroid and Miss Hourai’s… beliefs on belief can be utilized here.”

Having returned to her usual spot, the doll scowled at the tall god.  “It’s called ‘being responsible’, you jerka-”

“It was getting bad Outside,” Reimu started quietly, her tone serious, “wasn’t it?”

Caught off-guard by the question, Kanako stared at her for a moment before closing her eyes and sighing.  “...yes.” She whispered. “Very… very few believe anymore. There were days where it could be hard to project even to Sanae… and she’s attuned to us.”

Reimu had stepped closer as the god of wind and rain talked, putting her hands over Kanako’s.

“In here, we can feel the faith.”  She explained. “It’s present in the very air.  Part of me knows that… even if we holed up and didn’t talk to anyone, the three of us would retain our divine nature; the very fact everyone in Gensokyo believes in gods is sustenance enough.”

The god’s brows drew together as she thought back.  “But out there… as soon as the temples emptied from prayer… the hunger would return.  There was… there was never enough.”

“It’s okay now.”  Reimu whispered, pulling herself close Kanako to hug her.  “You’re in Gensokyo now. It’ll be okay.”

“...thank you, Hakurei.”

“...what, no hug for me?” The curse god demanded, arms ready for an embrace.  “I was hungry too, ya know!”

“Heavens and Hells, Suwako…”  Her counterpart groaned as the tiny shrine maiden let go with a jolt.

“O-oh!  Certainly, Divinity!”

Looking up at Kanako over Reimu’s shoulder, Suwako stuck out her tongue.

“A-at any rate-” Reimu started as the smaller god broke away; Suwako motioned to the wind charmer.

“Don’t forget Sanae!”

“Ack!”  Rolling her eyes, the wind charmer pat the shrine maiden on the back as she latched on.

“I- I hope you’ll stop by often, Divinity Kochiya-”

“Sanae is fine.”

“-I don’t have much experience being a shrine maiden with a god, so I’ll need your advice from time to time!”

As the shrine maiden let go, she brought her hands to her mouth.  “O- oh my goodness, we’re going to have gods here!” She whispered to herself, the realization setting in.  “Wow! I- I hope I do okay…!”

“I think you’ll be fine, Miss Reimu.”  Sanae smiled softly at her. “But I’ll see what I can do about stopping by from time to time.”

“Thank you!”  She waved her arms as they took off.  “Take care everyone!”

 

* * *

 

“Everything alright?”

Sanae blinked and looked over at her patron.

“Yes, Lady Yasaka.  Just… still trying to adjust, I’m afraid.”

The god smiled at her wind charmer as they flew up the mountain.  “I’d be worried if you weren’t, honestly. At the start of the year, we were talking about graduation and possible colleges, then last month we were talking of moving our entire life, and then just last week you were fighting things out of your mythology book.  And today we’re invited to two parties.”

“Not to mention Kanako’s been _way_ too hard on you.”  Suwako shook her head and sighed.  “Seriously Sanae, if you’re going to be bustin’ your ass that hard, you should at least be getting to pound tha-”

“Please, _please_ stop, Lady Suwako!”  The wind charmer begged through clenched teeth.

“ _At any rate_ ,”  Kanako continued loudly, drowning out the lecherous comments of her companion, “I do owe you an apology on that as well.  The Makaians were right, we really do need to take things back a bit.”

“But-!”

“Sanae.”  The god of wind and rain drifted closer to her priestess, touching her shoulder.  “It’s very different in here. When the situation changes, it’s important to look over your plans and see what still works and what doesn’t.  If we do in here like we did out there, we may eventually _create_ the problem we’re trying to safeguard against.”

“...Alright.”

“It’ll take work for all of us-”

“Not me!”  Suwako chimed in.  “You’re basically saying this’ll be easier for me!”

“Suwako, be silent!”

The curse god grinned.

“Ahem!  As I was saying, this will be hard to shift like this, but I believe this is a situation where less force will carry us further.  Just keep in mind you’re not alone on this; okay?” She smiled, pulling the wind charmer closer. “Rely on us.”

Sanae leaned into the embrace.  “...Thank you, Lady Yasaka.”

“At any rate, interesting people at the shrine…” Suwako nodded.  “Maybe this move won’t be so bad after all.” She looked at the living god.  “So what about the Hakurei kid was buggin’ ya? I don’t think the others noticed, but I could see you getting ready to say somethin’ every time the kid was speaking.”

She sighed.  “A lot… of what she was saying reminded me of what some of the people at school would say near me.”

“...ah.”  The curse god’s voice was little more than a whisper.

“...I was just waiting for the punchline like I always did back then.”

“Well,”  Kanako rubbed her shoulder, “I think Reimu was being sincere about what she was saying, at least.”

“No, I- I know she actually believes it, but… old habits die hard.”  She sighed, watching the path ahead. “I wonder how her attunement is going.”

 

* * *

 

“ **First, clear your mind.  Just like when I tried to teach you magic, and when you meditate.** ”

The warmth of the sun and the chill of the floor faded from her mind as sound and sensation faded away.

“ **Good… good… now, let your defenses rest.  Open your soul.** ”

Emerald and Gold hovered nearby, while Ruby and Prism swirled about; flecks of Sapphire could be seen near the dancing seven colours.  Behind her, she could feel The Eyes watching, waiting. Off in the distance, she could feel two unfamiliar sources.

“ **Now relax… relax…** ”

She could feel the forms start to take shape.  They began to draw her in.

“You’re going to feel an awakening.  It will be okay…”

“ _Come here…_ ”

Leaves of fire swirled about her mind, bringing the smell of freshly baked sweet potatoes.  She became aware of two hands, reaching towards her.

“It will be okay… we love you.”

“ _It’s okay…_ ”

She reached towards them.

“No matter what… we love you…”

“ _Let us show you…_ ”

Their hands touched hers.

“We… will always… love you, Reimu…”

“Oh…”

In a flash, fields ripe for harvest spread across Gensokyo, blanketed by crimson and gold leaves.  The soil hummed with life as the leaves laid down to rest, feeding the eternal cycle. Warmth and love surrounded her, filling her mind with empathy and understanding.

“Please… be okay…”

Cracks and stress lines filled the sky, the Hakurei Barrier becoming clear to her.  Despite the damage, she felt no anxiety, no sorrow; only comprehension.

“ _We have a lot of work ahead of us…_ ”

She nodded.

“ _But with you…_ ”

They took her in their arms once more, bringing her to them.

“ _...even we can help make a difference.  Thank you…_ ”

Their warmth filled her soul, illuminating her mind.

“ _We love you… our dear, dear shrine maiden._ ”

As her defenses returned, the warmth remained.

“ _But for now… come back to us._ ”

Reimu opened her eyes.

The Shrine Maiden of Autumn smiled.


End file.
